Josh takes an introspective look at his own personal performance at U.S. Nationals. While his Standard deck was undoubtedly powerful, both Coldsnap and RGD draft supplied hidden pitfalls that prevented him going far in the tournament. So, what went wrong? And in the harsh light of day, what steps can be taken to put things right?
With the first of possibly several “Magic Weekends” behind us, the U.S. National Championships, Italian National Championships, and English National Championships are all in the books, and in at least two of the three cases we have enough information to work with…
I’m afraid that right now, unless Legacy has some more major circuit events like another Grand Prix or even a Pro Tour, it will be resigned to fall back into stagnation. There is little innovation, and that’s partly due to the fact that the format is still underplayed. C’mon — four Goblin decks in the last Top 8? Solidarity is still the only viable combo? What’s up with that?
Once a while, me and the boys get together and run the BOO (Build Our Own) experience. We’ve been doing this for quite a while. The last incarnation was the third attempt. The BOO experience is a total one: card names, casting costs, function, flavor text, art… After they’re made, we shuffle ‘em into packs and draft ‘em up. It’s a pretty simple process: make 45 interesting Limited cards, and play with them. The power and flavor quotients are entirely in your hands.
In desperate times, there are many promises you make that eventually you don’t keep. For me, “never go back to Scandinavia” was one of them. It started with Grand Prix: Copenhagen 2002. I was chilled to the bone even though I was wearing all my winter clothes. Funny thing was, old people were walking on the street wearing only short-sleeved shirts, and young people were riding bikes while wearing only t-shirts.
At least I can say I help up my part of the bargain the last time I went through this. Unfortunately, the other Ben resorted to babbling buffoonery bereft of brainpower and proved that he was the weaker half of the Ben squad. No more, I say. From here on out, I will only follow in the footsteps of Papa Knut, patron saint of correct choices and dashing good looks. And Papa Knut spoke unto me and said:
“You are doing Nantuko Husk. That is all.”
And the heavens shook with his words.
Nobody likes a scab, right? Well, why vote for that scab doing the other Selecting 10th article or his scab card Nantuko Husk? He crossed the picket line buddy! Up with Angel! Down with Scabs!
Flores comes a day early to bring us the tale of the best deck he’s ever created. Spawned by an article by Richard Feldman, Mike’s Aggro-Ideal deck has been providing strong results across the board, and today’s article deals with its creation, development, and game-plan. However, a rather large spanner has been thrown into the works of late… read on to find out why.
As we know, Magic strategy is largely a forum of opinion. Everyone has their own take on the strongest deck, the first-pick card, the bombiest of bomb rares… but how, in this age of Information Overload, can we sort the wheat from the chaff? Richard brings us an insightful article that tackles this most nebulous of concepts…
Many of the tournament-worthy decks we see to day would be crucified in a casual or multiplayer environment. They are too focused on one goal, or one opponent. Today, Abe takes a look at some of the more powerful decks in Standard, and adapts them for the casual scene. Wanna beat down like the pros? Then this is the article for you…
Jay tackles the most monstrous of tribes… Beasts! He shares two decklists, both with high synergy and an excellent fun factor. Tribal Standard is a format with a growing fanbase… are these the decks for you?
Dear Joshua,
Hi! I was hoping I would never have to actually tell you this, but holy Christ on a cracker are you ever awful at this game!
On Monday, it was time to go back to Portugal. As I was heading to the airport, I noticed an Irish Bar just around the corner of Raph’s place. It was called “Mulligans.” Trust me, it sucks. I went there a lot of times on Saturday, and I’d rather not repeat the experience.
I’ve never been good at winning. I know I’m terrible at losing, but when it comes to winning, I don’t really know how to react. Most of the time when I win, it’s in the casual room, with nobody watching. I wait until my opponent offers the gg, so I might respond, and after a period of waiting I graciously bow out. If my opponent didn’t have some fun, then to me, it was not a good game… I’m sure baby Tim Aten is weeping at that sentiment.
